Got To Be Certain
by karazorel
Summary: Sequel to "She Remembers". The envelope is opened and the identity of Castle's father is revealed. Where does The Dragon fit in all this? What do Castle and Beckett need to be certain about?
1. Chapter 1

**Got To Be Certain: Trailer**

_(Richard Castle is staring at the Johanna Beckett case file at his office desk.)_

Martha: Richard, leave well enough alone! Isn't it enough that Beckett almost died because you stirred up the hornet's nest in her past?

Castle: I need to be certain that she will always be safe mother.

Martha: And what about your safety? She isn't asking you to do this! Don't put the two of you back in danger Richard. Kate doesn't want this anymore.

_(Cut to a man hidden in the shadows, smoke filling the dark room)_

Voice: You should have stayed out of this Castle. Wasn't my message clear enough?

Castle: I have a proposal for you.

_(Montage of various Johanna Beckett centered episodes)_

Kate's Voice: I need to tell you the truth about your father.

Castle's Voice: What about him?

_(Gunshots ring over the montage scenes.)_

Kate: Rick!

Castle: Kate!

Your requests have been heard and granted :-) The sequel to the much enjoyed story "She Remembers". Beckett and Castle are back and now they "Got To Be Certain", coming this weekend to a laptop or tablet PC near you :-)


	2. Preview: Chapter 1

**Preview: Chapter 1**

_DISCLAIMER: The characters contained herein remain the property of ABC Productions. The story contained is meant only for personal enjoyment and no money is being made from the story. No infringement is intended. I offer this fan fiction as a tribute to the creative teams involved in the actual production of the show However, I reserve the right to any original characters I create for the purpose of fan fiction story telling. _

xoxoxo

He was tossing and turning in his bed. Eyes moving in sync with someone in rapid eye movement mode. Richard Castle's highly imaginative and creative brain was entering dream mode, or since the dream involved Kate Beckett, his worst nightmare. Darkness, smoke, strange voices, footsteps, running, gunshots...

"Kate! Kate!" he woke with a start. His shirt soaked with sweat as he instinctively shot up from bed and reached beside him. But her side was empty.

She had gone home to her apartment that night, they had a slight argument earlier because she discovered that he was shadowing her with a tazer gun holstered on his belt. She was absolutely sure it would lead to her doing paperwork in the event that he tazered somebody he should not have. He refused to get rid of and she sent him on his way in a cab, separate from her.

He picked up his cellphone and pressed speed dial 1. Her phone was off, causing him to worry even more about her. Jumping out of bed, he grabbed his house keys, jacket, wallet, checked for her apartment key on the chain he wore around his neck, and scribbled a note for his mother and daughter before he zoomed out of the door. He managed to make it to her apartment in less than 10 minutes. It was 3 AM in New York City and cabs were desperate for fares after all. He bound up the walk up apartment to the 4th floor and used his key to get into her place.

Everything seemed in order. Maybe he was worried over nothing. It's just that each time she slept away from him, he seemed to have a hard time getting a good night's sleep. His mind played endless tricks on him and he kept imagining worst case scenarios. It seems he was more traumatized by her getting shot than either of them had expected. Her bedroom door was locked so he knocked a bit loudly to wake her. He needed to be sure she was alright on the other end.

"Castle, do you know what time it is?" she looked irritated when she opened the door. "We have to get to the station in 5 hours!." Beckett was still assigned to a desk job for the time being, the precinct was still waiting for their new captain to take charge and the officer in charge decided it would be in her team's best interest if she stayed under the radar until then.

"You turned your phone off. I couldn't reach you. I was worried." His voice had such a serious and pleading tone that it melted away Beckett's defenses. His eyes clearly showed the fear that his voice tried to hide.

She walked over to her bed and got in. He stood at the doorway, unsure of what to do. Beckett reached over next to her and opened up the blanket.

"Are you coming to bed or what?"

His smile beamed across his face as he slid in next to her. She automatically snuggled up to him and he held her in a hug that left them both feeling secure. Their argument of the day completely forgotten by now.

"I love you Kate."

"Always." she yawned and relaxed completely in his arms.

xoxoxo

**A/N: Full chapter will be up in 24 hours. In the meantime, I would love to have some feedback regarding this preview :-)**


	3. The Past Returns

**Chapter 1: The Past Returns**

_DISCLAIMER: The characters contained herein remain the property of ABC Productions. The story contained is meant only for personal enjoyment and no money is being made from the story. No infringement is intended. I offer this fan fiction as a tribute to the creative teams involved in the actual production of the show However, I reserve the right to any original characters I create for the purpose of fan fiction story telling. _

xoxoxo

He was tossing and turning in his bed. Eyes moving in sync with someone in rapid eye movement mode. Richard Castle's highly imaginative and creative brain was entering dream mode, or since the dream involved Kate Beckett, his worst nightmare. Darkness, smoke, strange voices, footsteps, running, gunshots...

"Kate! Kate!" he woke with a start. His shirt soaked with sweat as he instinctively shot up from bed and reached beside him. But her side was empty.

She had gone home to her apartment that night, they had a slight argument earlier because she discovered that he was shadowing her with a tazer gun holstered on his belt. She was absolutely sure it would lead to her doing paperwork in the event that he tazered somebody he should not have. He refused to get rid of and she sent him on his way in a cab, separate from her.

He picked up his cellphone and pressed speed dial 1. Her phone was off, causing him to worry even more about her. Jumping out of bed, he grabbed his house keys, jacket, wallet, checked for her apartment key on the chain he wore around his neck, and scribbled a note for his mother and daughter before he zoomed out of the door. He managed to make it to her apartment in less than 10 minutes. It was 3 AM in New York City and cabs were desperate for fares after all. He bound up the walk up apartment to the 4th floor and used his key to get into her place.

Everything seemed in order. Maybe he was worried over nothing. It's just that each time she slept away from him, he seemed to have a hard time getting a good night's sleep. His mind played endless tricks on him and he kept imagining worst case scenarios. It seems he was more traumatized by her getting shot than either of them had expected. Her bedroom door was locked so he knocked a bit loudly to wake her. He needed to be sure she was alright on the other end.

"Castle, do you know what time it is?" she looked irritated when she opened the door. "We have to get to the station in 5 hours!." Beckett was still assigned to a desk job for the time being, the precinct was still waiting for their new captain to take charge and the officer in charge decided it would be in her team's best interest if she stayed under the radar until then.

"You turned your phone off. I couldn't reach you. I was worried." His voice had such a serious and pleading tone that it melted away Beckett's defenses. His eyes clearly showed the fear that his voice tried to hide.

She walked over to her bed and got in. He stood at the doorway, unsure of what to do. Beckett reached over next to her and opened up the blanket.

"Are you coming to bed or what?"

His smile beamed across his face as he slid in next to her. She automatically snuggled up to him and he held her in a hug that left them both feeling secure. Their argument of the day completely forgotten by now.

"I love you Kate."

"Always." she yawned and relaxed completely in his arms.

xoxoxo

"I swear, Beckett has got to move in with us. I barely see dad these days. He tends to run off in the middle of the night just to be with her." Alexis moped over her cereal. She would be leaving for Stanford soon and wanted to spend some quality time with her dad, which was becoming impossible because he seemed to prefer to spend his waking and sleeping moments with Beckett.

"Alexis dear, you know that your father has certain responsibilities when it comes to Beckett. He explained everything to you before she went back to work." Martha poured some orange juice into the two glasses on the counter table.

"Capt. Montgomery shouldn't have done that. If dad bothered to ask me, I would tell him that he should not have accepted it. He wasn't given much of a choice in the matter." she took a spoonful of cereal in.

Martha sighed. Although her granddaughter had already accepted the relationship of Castle and Beckett as part of her life, there was still that portion of her that rebelled against the danger that her father seemed to be so willing himself into for the sake of Beckett. Alexis still had a lifetime ahead of her. Maybe, sometime in the future, she would learn the true meaning of love and the sacrifices one would be willing to go through in order to protect and preserve it.

"You would do the same for Ashley if he were in the same situation wouldn't you?" she posed the question to her hoping to hold a mirror up to her granddaughter and help her realize the situation.

The young woman sat in silence for a moment. Thinking deeply about the question. There were a lot of things she was willing to do for Ashley. But, putting her life on the line for him? She wasn't sure. Like Beckett often asked her during their talks, "Are you sure he is your one and done?"

"I love Ashley grams, but putting my life on the line? I don't know. I mean, I'm too young to think about a lifetime commitment don't you think? We are just getting started in our lives. Things could still change." she replied.

Alexis had already accepted Beckett as part of their family and had already come to terms with the fact that her father would not be the same man if he were not working with Beckett. Although she could see how in love they were, she still could not help but wonder as to how far Beckett would really go in protecting her father if the time came for it. How much did the woman really love her father?

"That's the difference between you and your father. He has lived already. He has experienced love in all its shapes and forms. He loved your mother and he loved Gina. But his love for Beckett, it's one of a kind. It's the kind that you only experience once in your life. That is why he is protective of her. That is why he puts himself on the line for her. Maybe, in the future, you will find that kind of love for yourself. It may be with Ashley, it may not be. Who really knows?"

Martha drank her coffee and pondered exactly what the future held for Castle and Beckett. She knew that her brother, Joseph Egbert was lurking in the sidelines. With her son's close association with the police, she could only hope that the day would nto come when he would have to cross paths with his unknown uncle. She prayed a silent prayer everyday that Beckett would not come across a case that would put them in his sight, or force her son's lover to divulge what she know of her criminal brother and his policeman father.

xoxoxo

The sun was barely up when a call came in on Beckett's bedside phone. Neither of them wanted to answer the offensive instrument of communication since they were warmly snuggled up to each other in a tangle of arms and heads. Beckett finally decided that whoever was calling was most likely from the 12th since the ringing refused to stop. She untangled one arm from under Castle's body and reached over to the receiver.

"Beckett." she cleared her throat as she answered the phone.

"Ey! A body dropped you want in?" Esposito's voice crackled over the line. He was obviously on the cellphone and the line was horrible.

She felt adrenalin rush through her body. Officially, she was still supposed to be on a desk job. But if her team needed her, then she was there.

"On our way." she replied.

"Our? Is Castle boy with you?"

"Yep."

"Our team is back isn't it?" she could almost see the smile on Esposito's face. He was probably more excited than she was to finally be working with Castle again. Their new captain wasn't due to join the precinct for at another month and the OIC did not have a problem with continuing with Capt. Montgomery's previous arrangement with Castle.

"Where's the body?" Beckett drew in a sharp breath upon hearing the location. It couldn't be!

xoxoxo

"Are you sure you want us to work this case?" Castle uncomfortably asked while Beckett drove them to the crime scene in her Ford Crown Victoria P71 Police Interceptor.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She smiled at him. "Don't worry."

"It's just that..."

"Castle, I understand your concern. But remember what I told you before? I have more to live for now. I am not going down that hole again. I have us to consider now. Our future. I won't put our life together on the line for anything." she took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

The crime scene was in an alleyway that was all too familiar to the people who were in Beckett's inner circle. Lanie was already hunched over the body when they arrived. She was busy doing a preliminary evaluation when she heard Beckett's voice. What the...?

"Who asked you to come down here?" Lanie asked, stopping to look up at her best friend.

"Esposito asked if I wanted in, I'm here. Fill me in."

"No. I think you should leave this case to Mutt and Jeff over there." she pointed towards Esposito and Ryan.

"Lanie, it's okay. Really. You're almost as bad as Castle."

"I'm right here you know." Castle reminded her that he was standing right behind her. Just like always. Still shadowing and protecting her.

"How can I forget? We left the apartment together." she replied teasingly.

"Beckett..."

"Lanie, just because my mom died in this alley doesn't mean I have to avoid it. What kind of cop would I be then?"

xoxoxo

The smoking Latino man who was ogling the scene was taken aback when he saw Kate Beckett and Richard Castle alight from their car. They weren't supposed to be there. She of all people should not be seen there. But she was there now. Things just got very sticky for him. Like it or not he would have to tell his superior about it. He pulled out his cellphone from his back pocket.

"We've got 2 problems. Beckett and Castle." he said when the line was picked up on the other end.

"Keep me posted." the ominous voice replied.

**TBC**

**A/N: Okay, so I was doing research and found out that there is no 12th precinct in NY. So I decided I was free to take location liberties in a way. Stay with me on this, the locations I am setting up are important to the Johana Beckett storyline as I see it in my mind. I promise it will be worth suspending disbelief for all of us :-) **


	4. Don't Get Sucked In

**Chapter 2: Don't Get Sucked In**

Lanie stared sadly over the body that had been retrieved at the crime scene. The man was young. Only in his late twenties and did not have any identification on him. She was busy taking his prints for cross referencing within the system when Caskett, as she and Esposito privately called the two burst into the morgue. Beckett with her police face on and Castle scurrying behind her as usual.

"Do we know anything about our victim yet?" Beckett asked. She tried to remind herself not take a special interest in this particular case. That was before she saw the wounds on the victim.

"Still taking his prints. No identification on him. Time of death is anywhere between 2 AM and 5 AM judging by the temp and lividity of the body." Lanie began sharing the information that she already had.

"Cause of death?"

This was the part that she dreaded telling Beckett about. The guy was stabbed multiple times. Once in the kidney. If they did not all know that Dick Coonan was already six feet under, a manhunt would probably be on by now.

"Kate, I think you should really back off this one."

"Lanie, stop pussyfooting and tell me about the case." Beckett already knew that her friend was trying to hide something from her. But being the officer on the case, she had the right to know everything about the victim and the cause of death.

She decided to ease her friend into the situation. Making sure to leave the most important detail for the last.

"You see this puncture wound here? Our guy was shooting himself up with heroin." She pointed to the injection site on the victims right arm. "Plenty more of those on the right arm as well."

"So he overdosed?"

"You would think that but no. That wasn't the actual cause of death. The real cause of death." Lanie whipped the blanket covering the body off. "Is this."

Castle immediately put his arms around Beckett and turned her away from the body after seeing the stab wounds. Was this going to make her crumble? Why now? She was already done with that part of her life!

"Are you okay Kate? We don't have to do this." he assured her.

She was shocked by what she saw. There was a copycat out there and he was probably still connected to the people who had her mother killed.

Silence filled the room for a few moments as Beckett collected her thoughts and got a grip on herself. She was not going to allow herself to be sucked back in. This was just another case. She just had to get the guy who murdered this guy and put him behind bars. Nothing more, nothing less.

"I'll be fine Castle." she smiled at him and touched his cheek lovingly. "Don't worry."

"Lanie, send me the full report as soon as you are done with it alright? Castle and I will go see if Ryan and Esposito have anything to get us started."

"Beckett..." Lanie wanted to be sure her friend wasn't going into the abyss once again.

"All I have to do is close this case. That is all. There is nothing else I have to look into." Beckett told her best friend, hoping that she would understand the underlying meaning of her words.

"I hope so." she responded as the pair walked out of the morgue.

xoxoxo

The bullpen was just as Beckett remembered it to be. The boys had taken the liberty of setting up the murder board in its original place, which was right in front of her desk. They already had a picture of the victim up and some partial information on it such as the kill zone time line and pictures of the crime scene. They were huddled around the board as they normally did. Beckett was leaning against the edge of her table, her arms crossed on her chest as she studied the board. Castle was sitting in his regular chair, working up stories that might fit the crime as he always did.

"We've got some preliminary leads Beckett. We think that you should let us handle the out of precinct interviews for now. You will still call the shots once we haul them in." Esposito said.

Beckett did not know it but Castle had been able to talk to the "family" while at the crime scene and they agreed that keeping her out of easy target range would be the best way to ease her back into the work. Now they just needed her to cooperate and agree with them.

"That's fine. Castle and I will stay here in case CSU sends up the file or we get an ID on the victim."

"We'll see you in a few." Ryan said grabbing his jacket and walking after Esposito who was already at the elevator.

Castle could not help but stare at Beckett as she stared blankly at the board. Why did it feel like they would never be able to escape her mother's murder? What was going inside her head? Was she going to close off and keep him out again?

She felt his eyes burning into her. Beckett was already used to having Castle stare at her when she was all silent. But this time, she knew that his stare and her silence had a different meaning. Without taking her eyes off the board, she took his hand into his and held onto it lightly.

"Relax Castle. Nothing is going to happen to me. To us. Let's just get this guy and move on. I won't go after The Dragon. You have my word."

"But what if The Dragon comes after you anyway? I just have a bad feeling about this one Kate."

She looked at him, trying to cover the fear in her eyes. What if The Dragon did come after her? He did not know that she was no longer interested in her mother's case.

"He won't." her voice shook a bit as she spoke.

"I believe that as much as you do." Castle held her hand tighter. "I've got your back. This time, we will move that rubber tree plant if we have to."

"I don't want to move it anymore Castle."

xoxoxo

The warehouse looked decrepit and condemned. The street it was located on could not easily be reached by car and the neighborhood was isolated from the rest of the city. This was a dead part of town. Nobody in his right mind would be caught dead in "Salvage Central". Nobody except the members of "The Heights" that is.

The Heights was the name of the gang that, had been in control of Washington Heights since the 1970's. They were into everything illegal that one could think of. Drugs, illegal gambling, protection rackets, these were just a part of their underground empire. The gang had been under the leadership of the same elusive criminal figure since he killed the original gang head and massacred the man's family right after. If anybody got in his way, he would simply have them killed in his favorite killing style. A stab to the kidney followed by 7 more random stab wounds.

Inside the warehouse, there was flurry of activity. It was the middle of the day and the strip club paired with illegal gambling was already in full swing. It smelled like stale beer and cigarette smoke. Somebody was puking his guts out in the far corner of the room. Other men were asking the newly arrived smoking Latino man for a "hit" of whatever designer drug the gang was now peddling. He ignored them all and walked into the closed off area of the building. Where the big boss was located.

"Is that you Eduardo?" the voice of a not so old but not so young man asked. He was in his early seventies but had kept himself always looking fresh with plastic surgery and other enhancements. He was after all, awash with cash.

This office was different in look from the rest of the building. It was decked out in the most elegant and expensive decor that money could buy. One could actually mistake it as having been decorated by a professional. In truth the man who owned the organization just had very good taste. He poured himself a bourbon at the mini bar while Eduardo got settled in.

"What did you find out?" the man returned to his desk and sat down. The only light in the room was the desk lamp that shaded his face from actual view.

Eduardo got himself a beer from the fridge before taking a seat in front of the desk. He cracked the can open and took a long swig before saying anything.

"They are officially on the case. But they do not have solid information yet. I've notified our contacts and told them to do the usual."

"Good. Remember, nothing happens to Richard Castle. As for Kate Beckett, you know what to do with her when you get the chance."

"As you wish Dragon." Eduardo replied.

xoxoxo

Castle and Beckett were back in the alleyway looking for anything that CSU may have missed. The sound of a cat jumping off the nearby trashcan called their attention. There was a body leaning against the trashcan now. They walked up to it to investigate. Beckett started screaming upon seeing the body, it was her mother!

"Kate! Kate! Beckett! Kate!" Castle did his best to wake her up. They were sleeping in his room at the loft and her nightmare had removed the bed covers with her frantic flailing.

"Ouch! Kate! You have to wake up!" He shook her hard after he hand had accidentally whacked him in the face. "Kate! It's over. You were never there. It never happened. You are dreaming!"

She was out of breath when she finally came to. Her heart was still racing as he cradled her in his arms. She could not help but softly cry.

"Rick, I don't want to get sucked back in. Help me Rick." she begged him.

"You won't Kate. I won't let it happen. I am here. I will protect you." He kissed her cheek and brushed her hair aside.

To Rick Castle, it seemed that the time had come to open Pandora's Envelope once again.

**TBC**

**A/N: I apologize for the long delay in the update. Real life work got in the way yet again and I needed to create a pocket of time to go back to what it is I enjoy doing, writing Castle fan fic. Things will be escalating at a fast pace at this point. I want to have the story done before the new season begins. I hope I still have some readers out there. Thanks for the reviews in advance :-)**


	5. ReOpening Pandora's Envelope

**Chapter 3: Re-Opening Pandora's Envelope**

Seeing Kate so weak and helpless made Castle worry even more about her being the lead detective on this case. She wasn't emotionally ready to go back to work. That was quite obvious now. She had already completed her required time with the precinct psychiatrist and been given the go ahead to go back to work but it was obvious to him that there were just some things that would take more time for her to get over. And maybe, there were just some things from her past that she would never overcome.

Her cries slowly quieted down as she fell asleep wrapped in his arms. Her tear stained face proved how much she had changed over the summer. She was no longer too proud to ask him for help, for his protection. It was something that he was willing to give her, even without Montgomery's written orders. He always took care of his loved ones, and he would give his own life if it meant protecting the love of his life. He slowly slid her head onto the down pillow and covered her up before he very gently slid out of bed and left the room.

xoxoxo

Martha woke up for her regular 3 AM midnight snack. She was heading into the kitchen to fix herself a sandwich when she saw the dim light streaming from her son's office. He did nto have any deadlines forthcoming as far as she knew. So what was he doing awake?

"Richard? What are you doing up at this late hour?" she asked.

He had just unlocked the biometric safe and taken out the Johanna Beckett files that Montgomery had sent him. He had to review the files now that Kate was involved in it again. One of the documents must have the information that he was looking for.

"Go back to sleep mother. I just need to go over some files before I go back to bed."he shooed her.

She approached his desk as he sat down and took the files out of the manila envelope. The hairs on her skin stood on end as her mother's instinct took over upon seeing the contents of the file.

"Richard, those are not publishing contracts, nor are they notes from your book agent. You are sticking your nose in where you shouldn't again." she breathed deeply in frustration before taking her seat at the front of the desk.

"Mother, please. This is something I have to do." He responded as he shuffled the papers into piles on his desk. "I can't let her go through this alone. Not this time. I did it once and almost lost her."

"That's just it Richard! You almost lost her once. Why are you stirring up this hornet's nest once again? Why do you want to put both your lives on the line? She doesn't want this anymore. She told you that herself." all thoughts of hunger had left Martha by now. All she wanted to do was talk sense into her son.

"Because... because I have to be certain that she will be safe. That this nightmare of hers will end once and for all so that she can finally have the happiness she deserves!" Castle controlled his voice as he reiterated his reasons.

"And what about your safety Richard? What if something happens to you? What if..." she held back her thought. _"What if my brother decides to finally hurt you because you won't leave him alone? What if he disregards the promise he made to me all those years ago?"_ she silently thought. "Think about Alexis. Think about me. Think about your future with Beckett that will never be if something dreadful happens to you!"

"I have raised Alexis well. She is an independent young woman who is on the verge of marrying some guy she crazy about. I am no longer relevant in her life. You have your own life as well. You don't need to be a helicopter parent anymore. I know what I'm doing mother. Please, just stay out of it, and don't you dare tell Beckett about this!" he argued.

The heated exchange with his mother was distracting his thoughts. He could not concentrate on studying the files as well as he wanted to. He slammed the folder on his desk in frustration then placed his index fingers on his forehead temples, rubbing them in circular motion.

"We are both too hyped up. I'll leave you to what you are doing. But promise me that you will consider everything that I have told you. Don't go into this without Beckett's approval. You owe her that much Richard," Martha got up to go back to her room. Thankful that she did not have to see her brother's mug shot among the files on the desk.

He nodded at her absentmindedly as he brought his attention back to the complicated documents on hand. Who the hell was The Dragon and how could he get a hold of the scumbag?

xoxoxo

She reached over to his side of the bed and did not feel his familiar skin texture brush against hers. That was strange. He never got out of bed without waking her up. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and glanced at the bedside clock. 6:30 AM. She pulled herself out of bed, checked herself in the master bathroom, then headed down to where she knew he would be.

Castle was already dressed for the day and whipping up a storm of a breakfast. The smell of scrambled eggs and bacon filled her senses. Alexis and she had succeeded in doubling teaming him into no longer cooking his offensive S'morelettes. So now he was serving hot choco with scrambled eggs instead. That was something that everyone could manage to keep down during breakfast.

"Hey Kate." he was placing the last of the bacon on the plate when he saw her descending from the stairs. He wiped his hands on the nearby towel and walked up to her. Greeting her with the sweetest and most lingering kiss he could muster.

"You started without me." she pretended to whine.

"I thought I would let you sleep in a bit. You deserve it after the night you had. Did you get any sleep?" he worried about her going back to the precinct and being only half awake.

"Yes I did. Your arms make for a perfect comforter." she complimented him as she poured herself a mug of hot choco.

They heard Martha and Alexis moving about in their rooms, preparing to start their days. They looked at each other and knew that they had only a few more minutes of alone time before their attention would be shared by other people.

Locking their eyes upon each other, Castle made the first move. He took the mug from her hands and set it on the table, pulling her closer to him for a cuddle and kiss. They fooled around for as long as they did not hear any of the doors open.

But the cuddle interruption did not come from a family member. Instead, it came from Ryan touching base via her cellphone. They had a witness in custody and he was definite that Beckett would be very interested in what he had to say.

"We'll be there by 8." she told him. "They've got a witness. We need to get to the precinct." she broke out of the cuddle and went back to their room to change.

**TBC**

**A/N: Sorry about the very short update. I am working on the interrogation scene and it has become quite heavy and long. I did not think it would fit well with the way I wrote this chapter so I will be uploading a longer one next weekend instead. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter :-)**


	6. Beckett's Killer

**Chapter 4: Beckett's Killer**

Ryan met them as they exited the elevator. It was no longer strange for him to see Beckett and Castle suddenly break apart once the door began sliding open. They were inseparable and everyone around them was cool with it. Nobody had thought that Beckett would ever look so happy in her life. Montgomery was right, Castle was definitely good for her. Ryan could not help but feel a tinge of sadness as he remembered their beloved captain. He would have been the happiest person at the precinct had he lived to see these two finally get together. Beckett flashed him a smile then took the folder he was holding as they walked along the corridor to her desk. She had shed her soft image for the strong, hard, super-cop image that she normally had while at the precinct. Castle knew better by now and was only one step behind her as Ryan briefed them on the witness.

"His name is Scott Bayer. Typical street thug who's been in and out of the system since he was 14. He worked his way up the crime ladder according to his file. He came up to Esposito and I while we were down at the crime scene. Said he had some first hand information to give but only if he could tell Det. Beckett about it. " Ryan explained as she leafed through the pages.

"And why is that? He has a rap sheet from here to Long Island. He doesn't get to make demands." Beckett did not even have to look behind her to know that Castle had pulled her chair for her. She sank into it and leaned over her desk, intently reading the file. "He's a hired gun?"

"Yeah, about that. He wants to get into protective custody. Said what he knows will be of huge interest and importance to you."

She had a worried expression on her face. The kind that she got when her mind was trying to piece together information and she did not like where all the clues were leading her. Shaking off the feeling that this was going to be bad news, she looked at the chair next to her where Castle was already seated and being quiet, waiting for his cue.

"Okay. Castle and I will take this." She stood up and headed towards the interrogation room.

xoxoxo

"Scott Bayer. You've got quite an interesting file here. Felony charges, drug trafficking, assault and battery..."

"Hey lady, I came to you. Take a chill pill Det. Beckett." Bayer had this relaxed aura about him. He sat in the chair as if he owned it. His obvious comfort in his surroundings made Beckett wonder what kind of game he was playing.

"Why did you come here Bayer? What do you want from me? You told my detectives that you had some interesting information for me." she leaned over the table into his personal space trying to regain control of the conversation.

"Yeah, I was lookin' fer yah at the spot. Figured you'd come back after yah connected the dots."

"What dots where those?"

"That the killer who ordered the hit on my pal also had your motha done in all dem years ago."

Beckett was obviously not impressed. She already knew that much from Lanie's preliminary report. If this was all this man had for her, he was wasting her time. But how did he know about her mother's case? Did she really want to find out? Her senses told her she wasn't ready at all. She threw Castle a look clamoring for him to save her. They got up from their seats together.

"Waitaminit!" Bayer hollered. "Don't you want to know what else I know?"

"From the looks of it, you don't know anything that our own team can't figure out on its. own." Castle answered.

"Hey Writer Shadow, who asked you?"

"Wise ass!" Castle was reaching over the table to grab Bayer but Beckett grabbed his wrist before he could do so.

"So, tell us something we don't know." she said seriously.

Beckett was feeling very helpless at that point. She knew she was being sucked back in and there was nothing she nor Castle could do about it. She would have to see the case to whatever end it might have.

"The dead guy, his name is Mauricio Stevens. He's a killer for hire."

"That is important to me because?"

"He was the guy hired to off you to the tune of 2 million bucks. Looks like he got more than the full payment for his services."

She felt her adrenalin suddenly rush through her system. Her knees were beginning to buckle. If she were not already sitting down, she was sure she would have collapsed. Her face felt hot with anger. Castle saw something in her eyes. Was it the lust for revenge?

"Who hired him?" she asked as silently as possible. She knew that since Mauricio was now dead, whoever had hired him to kill her had him taken care of.

Castle felt his own anger rushing through his body. The fact that they had the man who had almost killed her and never knew... that he got away with what he did to her in a way. He clenched his fists into the lap of his pants and clenched his jaw. He wanted to hear this. All of it.

"I don't know who really hired him. He was hired by proxy. The dude wanted to hire me first but I told him I was no cop killer. Yeah, I knew better than that. "

"Describe him. Tell me everything you know. " Beckett was doing her best not to shake in the presence of the witness.

Balls of tears were threatening to roll out of her eyes. Castle noticed her emotional condition and pulled his chair up to her and put his arm discreetly around her. She looked into his eyes for just a moment and got the strength that she needed from him.

xoxoxo

"Dude, did he just say what I think he said?" Ryan asked Esposito. They were standing in the observation room, watching the proceedings. Esposito had an angry look on his face.

"Damn! We were too late to get the dirt bag!" Esposito muttered.

"Yep, I heard right." Ryan's normally innocent looking face now had a seriousness about it.

xoxoxo

Castle had just come back with a cup of pantry coffee for Bayer and set it down in front of him . He normally would not have done that for any witness but for this guy, he held the key to whoever wanted Beckett dead so he was going to cooperate in any way he needed to.

"Mauricio and I, we grew up together. We even spent time in juvy at the same time coz we robbed a pawn shop. Yeah, he and I, we go back to the start of our careers. But then he took it a step further. I drew the line at beating up on people we attacked. But him, he had a blood thirst. Then he found out that he could get a lot more dough by offing people instead of just being a petty thief and stuff. He wanted to take me with him but I refused. I'm a criminal, not a murderer. "

Beckett took Castle's hand from under the table. She just needed to feel his skin on hers. That was the only way she knew to get through the interrogation.

He paused and cleared his throat. Bayer took a long sip before talking. "What no sugar and cream?"

"This isn't Starbucks. Now talk or I'll haul your ass down to holding so fast you will wish you hadn't dawdled. " Beckett threatened.

"Okay, okay. Geez woman, you need to get laid."

"Watch it punk, I'll take you down!" Castle defended her.

"Castle..." her eyes pleaded with him. He held his hands up leaned back into his chair.

"Anyway, " Bayer ignored Castle's last remark. He was enjoying pushing their buttons. It wasn't often that he was in the precinct without any charges being levied against him. "We lost touch after he became a hired gun. But two weeks ago, he comes to my flat and tells me he needs help. Said he was hired to off a cop at some funeral 4 months ago by the name of Kate Beckett. He did as he was hired to do but you lived. His employer told him that if he failed, he would get his kidneys sliced and diced and the rest of his body would become a dart boart. He wanted me to help him get out of the state. Said he was hired by some pretty powerful person and his foot solider was out to kill him now."

"The Dragon." Beckett whispered almost too quietly.

"So, this foot soldier, does he have a name?"

"Yeah. Name's Eduardo. Mauricio told me he heard his name once when he took a cellphone call."

"Did he ever describe him to you?"

"He's Latino. and smells of meth all the time."

"Oh great! That really narrows it down!" Beckett said sarcastically.

"What do you want from me? I'm just here out of the kindness of my ticker!" Bayer fumed. Here he was trying to be an upstanding citizen and the cops still treat him like crap. "I'm outta here!"

"Wait! Bayer! I'm not done with you." Beckett stopped him.

"How about some respect then? I don't havta do this y'know. I'm puttin myself on the line here and I don't even know yah !"

"I'll protect you. Just please, tell me everything you know."

"Why did this Eduardo want her dead?" Castle wanted to know.

"Mauricio said it had something to do with Beckett here not wantin' ta stop lookin into her mutha's case. Said he was told to off her so this Eduardo's boss guy could stop worryin about her. Said she was outta control now that her mentor was gone. Eduardo kinda let it slip to him that this head man was some really big shot guy. All powerful and untouchable and stuff." then he looked directly into Castle's eyes before continuing." But he was told to aim sure and make the bullet count coz her partner, I guess dat's you, you aren't supposed to be hurt."

"Why not?" Castle wondered.

"That's what Mauricio wanted to know too. But he was paid for only one body so he wasn't about to ask any questions. Specially after it became clear that if Beckett babe here lived, he would be dead."

"Where can we find this Eduardo?" Beckett demanded.

"He found us lady. He's in charge of the drug distribution on the east side. He's one slippery snake though. Good luck findin' him. Nobody would want to turn him in. Too scared. Me, I'm doin this for Mauricio. Cos Eduardo offed my pal. "

Everyone from the interrogation room to the observation room fell silent. This was more information than they actually expected to hear. Now they had to make sense of it all.

"That's all I know." Bayer ended. "Can I go now?"

Beckett slowly nodded her head. He stood up and stretched out before heading towards the door. They had been in that room for almost 3 hours.

"By the way. You can still get killed. Mauricio told me that it wasn't over yet. You're gonna be dead soon enough. Eduardo told him that the big guy wants you 6 feet under no matter the cost." he warned.

"Should we believe him?" Castle asked Beckett after they had been sitting in silence for a few minutes

"We don't have any reason not to." Beckett replied as she gathered the pad and other items on the table.

**TBC**

**A/N: Sorry about the intermittent updates. RL has require more of my time lately. Finally got some time to myself so I got to edit and tighten the chapter the way. Enjoy it guys. The next chapter is gonna have some action in it. Hopefully, I can have this done before the 19****th**** :-) **

**Thanks to: Alex Beckett, castlebeckett siempre, I'm Widget, and my other regular readers who are the reason why my story is taking shape. I appreciate all of my readers and your comments are always welcome :-)**


	7. The Muse is Secured

**Chapter 5: The Muse is Secured**

The car that Castle had rented for them was already waiting outside the precinct doors when they came down at the end of Beckett's shift. Since she had spent the night at his place, he was going to spend the night at her place tonight. That was the arrangement. But Beckett did not want him at her place tonight. She wanted to be alone. She needed space to breath. She needed to analyze her situation without Castle there to mess up her thoughts with his fiction. There were a few things running through her mind that she needed to work through. Why would The Dragon say Castle was not to be harmed? Where might the next threat to her person come from? Was any place in New York really safe for her? Could loving her prove to be detrimental to Castle?

"Kate, at least let me see you to your apartment alright? I'll drop you off then we can Skype when I get back to the penthouse." Castle tried to convince her. The threat on her life was real and he wasn't going to risk letting her out of his sight for as long as he could help it.

"Rick, will you stop worrying. Nothing is gonna happen to me. I can see myself home. You should get home and spend some time with Alexis and Martha. You've been neglecting them." she lectured him. "They need to see more of you and less of us together." she placed her lips on his and parted his lips with her tongue, tickling his front teeth with it before pushing him into the open door of the car. She smiled seductively as she thrust her head into the door and said, "That should tide you over till tomorrow." then winked at him.

He sat there motionless and with his mouth agape. He suddenly felt very hot. The same heat that he felt every time they got too close to that point but had to suddenly pull back. The kind of heat that he felt only when Beckett touched him that way. None of his past women knew how to make him feel the way he was now feeling. He was absolutely sure that if he made one false move he was going to have an accident in his pants.

"You tease!" he finally responded. But the car door was already closed and the windows were rolled up. All he heard was Beckett knocking on the roof of the car to make the driver go.

xoxoxo

Scott Bayer lived in a tenement on the lower East Side. It was the kind of place that smelled like piss and feces mixed with nicotine and uncollected trash. It was not a place fit for any human to live in but this was the place he called home. He tried to keep his own small room tidy though. But the smell of unwashed clothes permeated his room just the same. He did not have cash for the laundry. He needed to buy his food, pay for utilities, and make rent first. He flicked the light switch only to discover that he had been cut off again. Which is why he did not notice the Latino Man sitting on the banged up couch against the wall of his room.

Being a recovering druggie, he noticed the thick smell of meth that filled his room the minute he stepped in. He thought that maybe his next door neighbor was using again and shrugged it off. He was halfway across the room when Latino Man flicked his lighter on to light the room. Scott turned around in surprise.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" he reached into his back pocket to get out his folding knife which he used for his "jobs".

He was easily overpowered by the towering figure. Twisting Bayer's arm, he held him in such a position that the man was forced to his knees. They both heard his wrist bone crack under the pressure. He screamed in pain.

"I followed you all day. You shouldn't have spoken to the cops. You were not involved. Why couldn't you just stay out of it?" he growled.

"You killed my best friend!"

"And now I will kill you too. Tell Mauricio The Dragon sends his greetings." he thrust the knife into the kidney of Bayer. Twisting the blade in until nothing but the handle of the knife remained outside his victim's body. He sat on the couch, smoking a joint and listening until the cries of pain and breathing ceased.

xoxoxo

Beckett had stopped at the comfort food truck on her way home. Picking up some macaroni and cheese to go with a slice of chocolate cake, she wished that she had at least asked Castle to take her to dinner before sending him home. She missed having his company while she ate. He filled her life with happiness and reminded her that she was never alone as long as he was around. Her Skype emitted the signal that let her know that Castle was finally online. She had set up her meal at her desk so that they could eat together somehow.

"Lots of good sending me home early did. Alexis had dinner plans with Ashley and mother needed to go check on the details of her school inauguration. It's so quiet here." he whined.

She swallowed her food before responding. "It's not like we're married Rick. We need to be apart sometimes."

"Haven't we been apart long enough? I waited 3 years for you."

"Hey, if we're gonna play that game, I'm still sore about those 3 months..."

"Okay, okay! I get it. It's just not the same eating without you here." Castle changed the topic.

"If I were there, we would not get any eating done." she yawned, glancing at her watch to check the time. "We best get to bed. Pick you up tomorrow?"

"I'll pick you up. I've got a breakfast meeting with my agent at 7."

"Okay." she rubbed her eyes.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?"

"Always."

"Always Rick." she blew a kiss into the monitor before shutting it off.

xoxoxo

Castle sat on the side of his bed and picked up the phone on his night table. The number he dialed rang a few times before a man picked up on the other end.

"It's Castle." he spoke.

"The muse is secure. Lights out." was the response that he got before the line went dead.

xoxoxo

A well distinguished looking man of around 75 years of age, dressed in a black trench coat and carrying a briefcase was walking briskly down the steps of the State Senate towards a waiting limousine. The uniformed driver standing next to the door quickly flicked the door open so that the gray haired individual could get in. The man waiting inside the car moved to the seat in front of the back passenger seat so he could speak to the man face to face.

"Take me home Smithers. Put up the divider. We have business to discuss." the man ordered once the driver had gotten into his seat.

"Yes Senator Davies." the divider slowly rose to give the senator and his visitor privacy in the passenger cab.

"I told you not to smoke the product in the car Eduardo." he reminded the other man as he got out of his trench coat.

"Sorry Dragon." Eduardo quickly lowered the window and threw out the product under the cover of darkness.

"Did you take care of the problem?"

"I did. But he was able to talk to Beckett and Castle before I got to him." he explained.

"Donkey! Why didn't you stop him!" the senator fumed. He opened the on-board bar and poured himself a scotch.

"He was surrounded by cops the whole day..."

"And your brain is so fried that you could not find a way to get to him somehow? You disappoint me. I thought you were my best protege." the senator downed his drink in one gulp.

"It can't be connected to you. I made sure of it. "

"I want you to make sure that Detective Kate Beckett is taken care of before this night is over!" he barked. "She has been allowed to live much too long already. Her time is up."

"It will be done." Eduardo replied. He knocked on the divider which immediately slid down. "Let me off at the next corner."

xoxoxo

He did not find it hard to get into Beckett's apartment building. All he had to do was wait for one of the tenants to come out of the secured building so he could slip in unnoticed. Having an automatically locking door on such an old building did not really offer much security to its tenants. The woman who let him in even smiled at him as if they knew each other. There wasn't even a CCTV camera at the entrance. This was going to be one of his easiest hits ever.

Beckett's apartment was located on the 3rd floor of the building. Her lock was nothing that he could not easily pick. It was a really simple door knob that went with the simple look of the building. He noted that she did not use the door chain to further secure her lock.

That was when Beckett woke up. She knew that her front door was unlatched. She did not use it most nights because Castle had a tendency to show up at her door when he missed her and she did not want to have to get up every time just to let him in. She slept with her gun by her side anyway. However, the sounds she was hearing, or rather, not hearing was what alerted her the most. Castle still had not memorized the way her apartment was laid out in the dark and he had a tendency to bump into her furniture and grimace loudly in pain. There was none of that tonight. But she was sure that there was movement on the other side of her door.

Taking the safety off the gun, she took her flashlight out of the side table and turned it on, holding it over her gun in a way that it would light her line of fire in case she needed to shoot. She slowly opened the door to her room and crept out. Sounds were coming from her kitchen now. The refrigerator light was on. Whoever the intruder was, he was helping himself to her left overs.

xoxoxo

The man in the unmarked private car outside Beckett's building was watching her room window through binoculars. He saw a flash of light go in in the room through the uncovered window. From her nightly routine, he knew that that she had no reason to turn on the flashlight. There was no black out and Castle had not stopped by his car to let him know that he would be spending the night. A gunshot rang through the still night air. He took his gun out of his glove compartment and got out of the car.

He pulled out his cellular phone from his jacket pocket and speed dialed the emergency number as he ran to the apartment building door. "The muse is compromised. Repeat. The muse is compromised!" he barked then slammed the phone shut.

xoxoxo

Beckett had aimed the gut at the back of the intruder's head. "Let me see your hands! I am a police officer! Hands in the air!" she ordered him while he had his head in her fridge. She did not see the gun that he was holding underneath his chest.

Her attacker quickly spun around, punching her in the chest where her healing gunshot wound was located. She felt like he had cracked her chest open. She was in pain and winded. Unable to defend herself, she dropped the gun as she fell to the floor. Clawing her way away from him, she grabbed whatever she could to hurl at him as he kept trying to shoot her. Thank heavens for her cluttered furniture. It offered better cover than she ever imagined it could.

He was turning on the lights in the apartment now. He had a clear view of her and could have shot her in an instant. But this guy was cruel. He was playing with her like helpless prey. Beckett touched her chest and felt like blood was streaming out of the old injury. She was becoming lightheaded and weaker with every crawl. She had managed to cross towards her bedroom door when she heard another shot fired. This time coming from her front door, spooking her attacker. The private security guy was a good shot. He managed to disarm her attacker with one shot, causing him to flee out the emergency exit window.

Beckett was half passed out when he got to her. She thought her eyes and ears were playing tricks on her as she saw the shadow of two men, one who seemed to be Castle. Then she heard her lover's voice shouting as he approached her. "Kate! I'm here Kate! Everything will be fine."

"Rick? How did you..."

"The muse is secured. Let's get her to the safe house." The other man hurriedly ordered.

Castle picked up his wounded muse and headed to the security car. The look of worry and concern written all over his face.

**TBC**

**A/N: I had some extra time on my hands and decided to get this chapter out since I am running on a deadline. The next few chapters will be getting longer and more complex as I try to end the story by the start of season 4. **


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